Landing Pages: A Secret Weapon for Conversions

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Learn about how you can convert web traffic into tangible business

To get things started on the right foot, in case you’re not familiar with the term, a landing page is essentially a single web page that’s built for the explicit purpose of converting web traffic into leads. A company might want to consider building a landing page, separate from its main website, if it has a product or service that it wants to really focus on promoting/selling.

They’re great because they can be built a lot quicker than a full blown website, which also means that they are less costly. Furthermore, with A/B testing–creating two unique landing pages to determine which layout/features yield the best results–you can accurately pinpoint design elements and copy that best convert visitors into buyers. Think of it like an experiment to see which one resonates most with your target audience.

A landing page should not link or connect to your website because its sole purpose is to present the visitor with very specific information, and avoid befuddling and distracting users with links, buttons or elements that could take that potential lead away from the intended conversion goal.

Types of Landing Pages

There are two basic types of landing pages: “click through”–more commonly used in e-commerce funnels that generally warm a visitor up to the idea of a product or service, and “lead generation”–which makes use of forms and are great for capturing specific data about a potential lead. In our experience, lead generation landing pages result in better conversion rates, and these are most often the style we recommend. Of course, this depends on factors such as objectives, the company’s niche, etc.

What makes a great landing page?

While there’s no golden rule for creating landing pages, there are certain design elements that should be present to ensure conversion.

• Calls-to-action (CTAs). They must be clear and of course, above the fold. That means that the primary CTAs should be immediately visible when someone lands on your page; they shouldn’t have to scroll down to see it. The LP that we built for Toitures DF Pareanen is a great example of good use of clearly visible CTAs that use action verbs, such as “Get a free estimate” (Obtenez une estimation gratuite) or “Complete the form below” (remplissez le formulaire ci-dessous).

• Value proposition. It should be front and center. When a user arrives they should be able to tell right away what they’re getting in exchange for their potential business or the information they provide. For example, the landing page we recently built for international restaurant franchise Pita Pit had large, attention-grabbing text in bold font across the top of the page (above the fold): “DOWNLOAD YOUR COUPONS NOW!”. Visitors of the site had no question as to what providing their contact information would get them!

• Copy. It works best when it’s attention-grabbing, creates an incentive and builds motivation. A landing page should not have a lot of copy, but what is there needs to be effective. Careful consideration must be given to what’s going to most effectively result in visitors converting into clients. For example, when we designed the landing page for Ottawa roofing experts Armour Home Solutions, knowing that industry, we decided that in order to build confidence and trust, we would include client testimonials as part of the limited copy. Our rule of thumb is a landing page should have an average of 350-400 words, allowing for lots of while space and a clean design. There’s limited real estate on a landing page, so pick your copy wisely.

• Design. They say our brains make snap judgments in approximately 50 milliseconds. That being said, design needs to be appealing and persuasive. Landing pages should be designed with a logical flow, and could adopt a similar colour scheme as the company’s website– although it’s not essential. A few things are for sure, they should favor the most relevant information and the CTAs should stick out from the rest of the page.

In summary, the entire conversion strategy must be really well-thought-out for a landing page to be effective. Coupled with Google AdWords campaigns that have driven targeted traffic, we’ve had some great landing page success stories in the past years that have meant significantly increased sales for our clients. Overall, landing pages are a great short-term, easy to implement strategy that can bring very favorable results fast.